


from rain flowers bloom

by aubade (sugacubes)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean lance, Angst, Death and Reincarnation, Galra Keith, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, and klance cant keep their magic powers in their pants, goblin au, lance is immortal and keith is an amnesiac grim reaper, they end up rooming together with the other paladins
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-12
Updated: 2017-05-12
Packaged: 2018-10-30 18:09:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10882200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sugacubes/pseuds/aubade
Summary: After centuries of being immortal, Lance developed a system where every few decades he relocates before those around him realize he hasn't aged a day. But Pidge throws a wrench in his plans when overheard rumors cause him to head to the old crossroads where he meets another immortal- a grim reaper who just so happens to be his new roommate.





	from rain flowers bloom

"Have you taken care of everything, Shiro?"

"All of the arrangements have been made. There's even an offer on the house already, it should be finalized tonight."

Lance nodded slowly, absent-mindedly twiddling his thumbs in his lap. This was good. Shiro would make sure he had a clean break from this place before moving overseas. Well, as clean of a break as he could get all things considered.

"Do you think Pidge will keep going along with it?" Shiro asked, uncertainty clear in his voice. Pidge had only been recently told about Lance's plan to leave and had been unsettlingly cooperative. While Pidge most certainly understood _why_ Lance had to leave, both Lance and Shiro felt that Pidge had agreed to it all too quickly. There was underlying passive aggression in their youngest friend and honestly, Lance was waiting for the retaliation.

But it didn't matter whatever sort of plan Pidge was concocting.

He still had to leave.

But he didn't have any worries over what would become of his friends once he left. Shiro and Hunk would make sure Pidge was taken care of and put through any school of their choice. Shiro would then finish being trained to take over the company. Hunk would expand out their robotics and engineering platforms. And Pidge would probably grow up and win a scientific award for some ridiculously intricate invention.

They'd be fine without him.

They always were.

"It's raining," Shiro said quietly. Lance spared him a quick glance before looking out the large bay window across the table. A downpour had coated the glass in specks of water, first falling slowly, and then quickly as the drops connected with others and turned into a stream.

"You should give Hunk that call," Lance responded, ignoring the initial question Shiro had asked him. Pidge would be home any minute and he'd find out then if Pidge was going to let him leave peacefully. Shiro examined Lance for a moment before heading upstairs to his room. Lance watched Shiro take each step until he was across the second floor balcony and out of sight.

He rubbed the back of his hands over his eyes, suddenly feeling the weight of his age. He wasn't looking forward to having to talk to Pidge about his leaving again. Shiro and Hunk understood why he had to leave- and he knew Pidge did too. But he also knew Pidge wouldn't stand for it. They'd been like that ever since they were a kid, and he didn't expect Pidge to change now.

As if knowing Lance was thinking about them, he heard the front door being kicked open. He looked toward the entryway to see Pidge standing there, completely soaked and looking as though they were five seconds away from murdering Lance.

Lance watched each droplet of water fall from his friend's face and splatter against the wooden flooring of their home. Words had yet to pass between them as Pidge stood in the doorway, glaring at Lance as though they could burn a hole right through him. "What was it?" They asked finally, taking another step forward while shutting the front door behind them. "Train to Busan? The Titanic?" Pidge shrugged their water-logged backpack off their shoulder and onto the floor. "... Bambi?"

He averted his eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh really?" Pidge asked, stretching out every syllable as they spoke. "You have no idea why it started pouring despite the fact we had a zero percent chance of rain?"

Lance feigned a shocked expression, not bothering to pity the fact Pidge had gotten soaked on the way home from school. "That's very strange, I wonder why that happened," he said quietly before snapping his fingers in realization. "Oh! This is that global warming thing, right? Serves you right for ruining this planet," Lance declared, but not before tossing Pidge a hand towel off the table he was sitting at.

Pidge caught it with one hand and wrapped it over their head, frantically trying to dry their hair. "No, no that was _not_ global warming. That was _you_ being a cry-baby!" They exclaimed, causing Lance to laugh nervously. "Something made you sad. What was it?"

"'Sad' is me eating cookie dough and watching Netflix at three in the morning. It's _not_ me causing water to fall from the sky!"

"Everyone eats junk food and watches Netflix in the middle of the night, you aren't special! _You're just emotional_!"

"I've never once cried in my very long life, Pidge. In fact, I don't even have tear ducts."

"I saw you cry last week when you dropped a brownie on the floor."

"That was- wait, you were there?"

"I was. I've seen a lot of things I'm sure you wish I hadn't" they answered cryptically, walking passed Lance and smacking him in the arm. "You better sleep with your eyes open, payback's a bitch."

"It's not like I _wanted_ it to rain," he said, trying to get back on Pidge's good side. "It just happened." Well that was true. It wasn't like he woke up that day and decided to cause a downpour just to mess with Pidge. That would be immature and hypothetically what he may or may not have done _last_ week. But this was a new day, a new Lance.

Well, sort of.

He listened to Pidge mock his words before they headed toward the kitchen. There were a few quickened steps against the hardwood before they slowed, heels dragging against the floor. Lance waited, knowing Pidge was examining the room, the packed boxes, the papers...

Their words had been spoken with a sudden urgency, agitation clear in his friends voice.

"You're still planning on leaving?" Pidge asked, walking back toward Lance and tossing their books none too gently onto the finely polished dining table. Lance could only hope that action didn't mark up the wood as he studied Pidge's appearance.

"Soon." He had to go, as always. Only this time he was leaving behind more than just an empty house.

"Why?"

"The neighbors will think it weird that their devilishly handsome neighbor hasn't looked a day over twenty-three for the last, I don't know... thirty years," he responded honestly. Lance could never stay in one place too long. After a while the people around you begin to notice things they hadn't realized before, things you don't always notice unless you spend enough time with someone. A nose that crinkles when laughing uncontrollably. Not being able to hit a high note to save a life.

Not growing old despite having lived in the same house for a few decades.

Pidge crossed their arms. "You've never once had a conversation with any of our neighbors, and the closest one lives a block away. I doubt any of them even know what you look like."

"How could they not notice my beautiful face passing by everyday?" Lance questioned jokingly, trying to calm Pidge's understandable anger. He knew it hurt them, but Lance didn't have much of a choice. This had been his routine for centuries- find a nice place to settle down, live there for a while, then relocate.

It was how people like him had to live.

"I know you're going to do something to try and get me to stay," he continued, ignoring the look of innocence Pidge conjured up. "So whatever it is," he said, wiggling his index finger at his friend. "Forget it, it won't work so- no, stop that. Stop smiling I don't like that look!" Lance stated, glaring at the suspicious grin Pidge had formed.

"I didn't want to pull this card, but since you're still insisting on leaving us, let me just say... she's here," Pidge said excitedly, gripping the back of the chair in front of them. They strummed their fingers along the top, waiting for Lance's reaction. But Lance only cocked his head in confusion, arching a brow.

"What are you talking about? Who's here?"

"Your bride."

Lance stilled at Pidge's words. "My... bride?" He repeated, unsure if he even heard Pidge right. But they nodded in confirmation, humming a yes in response. How did Pidge even know about his bride? He asked them that same question only to get a shrug from Pidge.

"You've never been good at hiding what you are, Lance. I did my research on you when I was just a kid," they said confidently. "I read the old myths and children's stories. And they all say the same thing- that you have a bride, destined at birth to be yours."

"Do you know _why_ I'm looking for my bride?" Lance asked cautiously, hoping Pidge never came across the reason people like him even had brides destined for them. Pidge shook their head, and Lance let out a relieved breath. Of course Pidge didn't know, they never would have told Lance otherwise. "But what do you mean she's here, how would _you_ know?"

He'd been looking for his bride for centuries. What were the odds she'd pop up now and where Pidge would find her? "Well... I don't know, not really. In fact, no one does," Pidge answered a bit skeptically, withdrawing their gaze from Lance. "I was talking with some friends by the old crossroads -"

"- I've told you not to talk to those ghosts!"

"- and they've said that they've been sensing your bride's presence recently."

Lance bit his lip as he copied Pidge and began tapping his fingers along the table in front of him. Coming out of anyone else's mouth, 'the ghosts told me!' would have sounded ridiculous. But thanks to Lance's influence, Pidge was able to see spirits that remained on the earth instead of passing on. Lance had told Pidge countless times that they shouldn't talk to spirits, since that would draw the eye of other supernatural creatures.

But if they were right, it might come in handy just this one time.

For whatever reason the undead were able to sense creatures like Lance- probably because they were trapped in the borders between worlds. That meant it was possible that they had sensed his bride as well, since she'd have his mark...

"Have they seen her?"

"Hm... No, no one's _seen_ her. But they've been sensing her presence all over town, mainly near the crossroads and the old shopping districts," Pidge responded, a thrilled expression on their face taking hold as they watched Lance stand from his seat. He grabbed the coat that was hanging over the back of his chair and pulled it over his shoulders. "Oh! Are you going to look for her? I wanna come!"

"No way."

"But this is reason enough for you to stay, right?!" Pidge asked, half begging.

He didn't know what answer to give Pidge. It was true that if the rumors of his bride were legitimate he wanted to look, but... Lance didn't want to give Pidge hope that he'd stay. Especially if he _did_ end up finding his bride, since then he'd...

Well, that was something to deal with if the time arose.

Lance headed for the front door, hearing Pidge trailing quickly behind him to try and get to him before he can teleport. But Lance already had the door open and was stepping through the doorway before Pidge even reached the front hall. Sending them a quick wave, he pulled the door shut behind him. He laughed to himself, hoping Pidge remembered not to try following him- they'd only go tumbling onto the front step and into the last few moments of rain.

Lance turned his attention back around, seeing that he'd arrived in the middle of the shopping district across town- through the back door of an old bar. A grin spread across his face as he walked down the cobblestone and passed the stores.

Teleporting away from his problems was possibly his favorite perk to being immortal.

* * *

"You'll want to drink this," Keith says softly to the woman sitting at his table. He places the cup of tea in front of her, before nodding back toward the black wooden door on his left. "It may seem harsh, but it's best to forget this life before you pass on. Otherwise you'll be haunted by the memories in your next life, and it's no way to live." The woman- still so young, probably not much older than Keith's physical form- smiles gently as she accepts the tea, bringing the cup to her lips.

"It's alright," she confesses after downing her cup. "There wasn't much of a life to remember anyway." Keith watches her as she stands from her seat at his table, nodding him her thanks before walking to the door and passing through it. He waits until the door closes shut, officially signaling that her soul has passed on. Once she's gone he lets out an exhausted sigh as he picks up the empty cup and walks it over to the sink. He scrubs it clean and dries it before putting it back in its spot around the corner from the table. There were hundreds of rows of tea cups lining his walls, but he always knew where each set came from.

It had been a standard ceremony in his office: pull a tea set from the thousands lined on his walls, heat the tea for the soul passing on (if they were deserving of it), give them the afterlife spiel at his table, then send them off to the back of his office to pass through the door and go to their respective afterlife to be reincarnated.

Yet something wasn't right.

He could sense it now that his attention was off the soul that had just departed. There was a rippling feeling in the air, the kind you get when looking at the heat waves coming off a pavement on a hot day. That sense of unease was one Keith would get when another being like him was in the area. Not a reaper, no... But something that definitely wasn't human. It was close by too, and it had come quickly with no warning.

He considered stepping outside his office to take a look before realizing he didn't have to. When he'd spun on his heel in the direction of the far wall, he noticed that whatever being had wandered near his domain had taken notice of Keith as well. In fact, he was looking right through the wall of tea cups (which no human could obviously see as his office wasn't located on a human plane) and was staring right at Keith.

Not that Keith deserved to be stared at, between the two of them. Because this guy was definitely, one-hundred percent, undeniably not human. Keith wasn't an expert on all supernatural entities, but he didn't need to be to know the man outside his office wasn't mortal. Although he seemed to be at first glance- young and tall with short dark hair and pretty blue eyes, his dark skin mostly hidden by the over-sized coat he wore- all signs pointed to human.

Except for the sword stuck in the guys chest.

Now Keith didn't interact with humans outside of work unless necessary, but he knew for a fact they didn't have luminescent swords protruding from themselves. Only one creature did, and it was one rare enough that Keith had never come across it in the three-hundred something years he'd been working.

Keith stared at the glowing black blade embedded in the man's chest.

"Goblin?"

The man locked gazes with Keith, clearly unimpressed with the fact he'd realized his supernatural alignment. His eyes roamed over Keith's appearance before he smiled. "Grim Reaper," he greeted, giving Keith a small nod of his head. "You're wearing The Ugliest hat I've ever seen."

Keith flicked the top of his hat at the other's words, suddenly self-conscious of his work attire. What the hell was the guy's problem?! Keith was about to give him a piece of his mind, but the goblin only shook his head in laughter before continuing his way down the street. Keith watched his retreating form before letting the man leave his eyesight, returning to staring at the walls of his office.

A goblin was living there? None of his coworkers had informed him that there was a goblin in the area. He had only recently been assigned to this district, but surely someone would have noticed a goblin? Humans wouldn't be able to see the sword in his chest, but reapers could. And while Keith had never met a goblin, he knew that whenever they popped up they would mess with their work- changing fates and saving those destined to die...

They tripled their paperwork and made their jobs infinitely more difficult.

The beeping from his watch pulled him from his thoughts and Keith glanced down to check the time. He had an appointment to finalize the renting of a new house and needed to be there soon. Part of him wanted to inform the higher-ups that there was a possible goblin running around fucking up their work but Keith figured that could wait till later. 

There were humans he had to move in with. 

It wasn't that Keith wanted to live among mortals. He had no idea how they worked or lived aside from how they died and he frankly had no interest in them apart from anything job-related. 

And that therein lied the problem. 

His bosses felt that understanding human life is what made grim reapers what they were. How could they pass judgement on mortals if they didn't understand how their lives worked? Keith could respect that line of thought, but it didn't mean he had to be happy about moving into a house full of humans. Yet here he was, walking through the door to his office and stepping into the alleyway of some random gas station he'd been to the week before. 

It was the closest location to the house he could teleport to without actually appearing in the house itself. So he made his way down the street, carefully avoiding bumping into anyone on his way toward the house. He was pretty confident in controlling his powers but without enough focus his abilities would seep through with the slightest touch of a human.

So he crossed his arms and kept them tucked into his chest while he walked down the street, not even a block away from his destination. He could even see the house from the road since it towered over most of the trees in the front lawn due to its size. It wasn't exactly a mansion, but it wasn't a regular house either which is why Keith had spent two-hundred years worth of savings on it.

It had a long curved driveway and a six-car garage on the side (not that Keith even drove), three floors, and five bedrooms. The owner who Keith had yet to meet was apparently moving out and was renting one of the extra bedrooms during his leave. Keith had signed a twenty-year lease with one of the other homeowners earlier that week, which is why he was currently standing on the massive front porch of a mini-mansion in between two large columns.

He rang the bell and had just barely removed his hat before the door flew open.

"Dammit Lance if you're ding-dong ditching your own house again I'm gonna-"

In front of him was a person a good foot shorter than him with frizzy tanned hair and big-rimmed glasses, their eyes widening when they took in Keith's appearance. "You," they said. "Are not Lance. What are you, a salesman or something? What's with the suit?"

Keith glanced down at his outfit, forgetting that he hadn't changed out of his work clothes yet. Black suits apparently weren't average human wear. "No I'm not Lance. I'm also not a salesman, I'm the new renter," he responded, holding his hand out toward the kid.

_Don't look into their past, don't look into their past-_

"Oh riiight, I forgot about that. I'm Pidge, so I guess we'll be roommates from now on?" Pidge placed their smaller hand in Keith's, who was focusing on controlling his powers. "Come on in and meet the others. Lance is out but everyone else is around."

Keith followed Pidge into the house, closing the door behind them. He thought it was as large and grand as he remembered when he looked up at the second floor balcony which lead to some of the bedrooms. Even in the areas where there was furnishing were still spacious- except for the area filled with a bunch of machines Keith couldn't name.

"Shiro! Hunk! The new guy's here for the papers or whatever!"

Pidge gestured to the bar stools at the kitchen counter while they went to the fridge to scrounge for a snack. "So," they said lightly as Pidge jammed their head into the fridge. "What'd you say your name was?"

Keith took a seat in the stool. "I didn't."

Pulling a soda from the back, Pidge stepped away from the fridge and glanced sideways at Keith. "That's shady as hell. If you're going to be living here, you're gonna need a name you know." Keith examined the kid as they stared right back at him. He knew that all humans had a name, but... most reapers didn't.

In fact, Keith wasn't even supposed to know his name. He just happened to pass someone he knew in his past life, accidentally pulling his name from their previous reincarnation. Would it be alright to tell the human his name when even the other reapers didn't know?  
  
"I'm-"

"So you're the one who paid insane money to stay here?" 

At the sound of someone behind him Keith almost jumped out of his skin. He turned in his seat just enough to see a bright smile out of the corner of his eye before the person moved out of sight again. "You're gonna love it here, dude. Just don't mess with any unfinished projects lying around or it _will_ end badly for you."

Keith turned in his seat to get a look at the person who was stalking around behind him. He didn't know what the guy was doing but he was carrying some giant scrap of metal almost as large as the guy himself- who was a good two or three times Keith's body weight, most of it looking to be all muscle. 

"I'm Hunk by the way, and I see you've met Pidge. What about- Shiro! There you are!"

Lance turned back around to see the only piece of familiarity in the building. Now standing behind Pidge was the only human Keith was on a first name basis with- Takashi Shirogane. He'd met with Keith twice before to discuss the renting process and to sign the documents (although Keith admittedly played with Shiro's mind a bit to keep the fact he didn't know Keith's name out of his head). 

Shiro, as he liked to be called Keith found out, placed a file folder onto the table and shook Keith's hand. "Sorry you had to come on a day with a bunch of commotion."

Keith shook his head despite the headache he felt with having to deal with so many humans at once. He really needed practice socializing, didn't he? "It's fine. We're just finishing up some papers anyway, I'm not moving in just-"

The front door suddenly slammed open and shut again. 

 _How many people live in this fucking house?!_  
  
"Lance, you're back," Shiro said to the person who just walked in. Keith refused to look at the newcomer, deciding he had met _way_ too many new people for one day. "The new tenant is here so-"  
  
"Pidge your so called 'friends' were absolutely useless! They wouldn't be able to find their heads even though if they were shoved far enough up their asses!"  
  
"Don't blame _me_ , the rumors are completely legit! You're slow ass just got there too late!"  
  
"My slow- you're the one who didn't tell me about my bride until it suited you best!"  
  
"That's because you're running away, you jerk!"  
  
"Guys!" Shiro exclaims, cutting through their argument somewhat effortlessly. It must be a common occurrence in the house, Keith thinks. Did all humans argue like this? "Can we stop yelling in front of the new guy?!"  
  
Keith stood from his chair and straightened his back at the mention of himself.  
  
"Thank you! Anyway, the noisy one over there is Lance. He's the building owner."  
  
Nodding at Shiro, Keith spun on his heal to face the owner only to be met with a familiar face, one just as surprised to see Keith there as well. "You... _You're_ the owner?!" Keith questioned loudly, jabbing his finger toward the goblin he'd met before signing the papers. The stupid goblin- Lance, apparently- was shrugging off his coat and tossing it over the nearest chair. He crossed his arms over his chest before nodding toward Keith.  
  
"Shiro. Pidge. Hunk. Why's this... _thing_ in my house?"  
  
"Lance!"  
  
"He's the one renting the extra room," Hunk answered, picking up one of the papers Keith signed and waving it.  
  
Lance scoffed as he held one of his hands toward the paper and made a finger gun. He aimed it at the document, closed one eye, made a small "bang" sound and pretended to shoot the gun.  
  
The paper in Hunk's hand immediately burst into blue flame and Hunk quickly dropped what little paper was left as it fell into ashes.  
  
"Not in my house," Lance said as he grinned to himself, blowing out the tip of his 'gun.'  
  
"Lance what are you doing?!" Pidge asked, not-so-subtly gesturing to Keith. " _He watched you do that_!"  
  
"Oh it's not a big deal. He's seen weirder stuff, aren't I right Mr. Reaper?"  
  
Keith scowled at Lance, wanting nothing more than to use his powers on the obnoxious goblin. But using them in front of humans was considered a grave misuse of his abilities, so he refrained.  
  
"Well, I guess since the paper's gone, you can't stay here. Tough luck."  
  
"Actually," Shiro corrected, pulling a paper from the folder on the counter next to him. "That was just a copy. _This_ is the real one."  
  
When Lance put up another finger gun, Shiro glared Lance into submission. "You're not burning this one up, Lance. He's already signed the papers and he's the only one that can afford the stupid room on a twenty-year lease."  
  
Part of Keith wanted to stop Shiro and just burn up the contract the same as Lance. But the other part told him he had to remain there in the house. Not just because his idiot bosses ordered him to stay there and observe the humans...  
  
But because all of his savings were poured into the place.  
  
He could see the tick working in Lance's jaw as he considered Shiro's words. Keith thought he was going to fight him on it, but for some reason he accepted the terms. "Fine. If you won't force him out, I'll make him _want_ to leave."  
  
_And there it is._  
  
Two could play at that game, Keith figured.  
  
"Weren't you supposed to be going somewhere?" Keith asked, recalling what the others had said about the owner planning on moving out.  
  
"I was. But there's something I have to look for first," Lance answered, plastering the fakest smile Keith had ever seen on his face. "So I guess I'll be here a bit longer. Let's get along, _roomie_." He held out his hand toward Keith, who took it reluctantly.  
  
Lance instantly heated up his touch, almost burning Keith's hand. So in return Keith tried to freeze Lance's, making him retract his grip. Smiling, Keith locked eyes with Lance, issuing an unspoken challenge between them.  
  
"Sure, Lance," he said quietly. "This should be interesting."  
  
"Oh that's right!" Pidge exclaimed, snatching the paper from Shiro's hand and examining Keith's signature. Not that it helped since he knew no one would be able to read the scribbles, not even himself. "What's your name?" Lance noticed Keith's hesitation and answered for him.  
  
"You don't need to know his name, he's a freaking reaper."  
  
"I don't wanna hear that from the guy who probably lived under a bridge most his life!"  
  
"Do I look like a troll to you? Besides, all you do is serve people tea!"  
  
"And _you_ just mess with my work and make flowers bloom!"  
  
"Ladies, ladies you're both beautiful. How about Pidge and I take you on a tour?" Hunk offered as he and Pidge looped their arms with Keith and started hauling him away, leaving Shiro to deal with a fuming Lance. Keith could still hear Lance calling after him even from the upstairs bedrooms.  
  
"You should treat me with respect! I was a prince, you know!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i can't believe i started fucking writing this it's been in my head for months  
> but here it finally is... the goblin/voltron crossover no one asked for but me. so if youve seen goblin, you kinda get what this is about (though therell be differences ofc), and if you havent well... buckle up its a wild ride my guys
> 
> there's A Lot that's gonna happen in this fic so get comfy bc it'll probably be a long one, and if ur confused about some things in this chapter don't worry, the particulars will be covered in the next few chapters so you wont be out of the loop long i promise its part of the #mystery


End file.
